Honig v. Wisconsin Elections Commission

Vote Dilution
Dane County Circuit Court

Defendant-Intervenors Billie L. Johnson and Kendall E. Post, who were supported in their efforts by CEC, moved to intervene in a suit in Dane County, Wisconsin, Circuit Court to protect their votes against dilution ordered by the Wisconsin Elections Commission to account for 23 unlawful ballots apparently improperly included in the final election returns.  Despite an initial denial of intervention without prejudice, proposed Defendant-Intervenors succeeded at argument in convincing the court to limit the case to an as-applied challenge. The Court returned the drawn-down ballots to the final count. However, plaintiffs returned to ask for the court’s previous ruling to be expanded to apply to all “Wisconsin election law”, well beyond the facts pleaded in the case. Johnson and Post were granted intervention. On October 13, 2026, the court issued a decision and order that stopped far short of the broad rule requested by Plaintiffs. Instead, the court held that an absentee voter who completed the ballot correctly and returned it to the municipal clerk in time to reach the polling place by 8:00 p.m. cannot have their ballot rejected if the ballot missed that deadline solely because of an election official’s act or omission. The court expressly limited its holding to the facts in Honig and devoted a section of its decision and order to discuss the very limits Johnson and Post requested as an alternative to dismissal.

Gavery v. Harris

Election Administration; Election Observation
Wisconsin Elections Commission

With support from the Center for Election Confidence (CEC), Milwaukee elector and election observer Justin Gavery filed a verified complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission against Milwaukee Election Commission Deputy Director Maricha Harris and Executive Director Paulina Gutiérrez concerning the administration of Milwaukee’s August 11, 2026, partisan primary. The complaint alleges failures involving the transmission of election results from Central Count, required public notice of election proceedings and pre-election tabulator testing, and access for election observers to ballot-handling activities. Gavery asks the Wisconsin Elections Commission to investigate the allegations and order corrective measures before the November 2026 general election.